What Should He Have Done?
by Kwikdraw
Summary: Superman reflects on his lack of action after President Luthor moves into the White House.
1. Heavenly Reflections

What Should He Have Done?

By Kwikdraw

All characters owned by Warner Bros./DC Comics

Clark floated on the edge of the sun, soaking in the warmth of the solar energy. Things appeared to be quiet on Earth for the moment, and J'onn was currently on JLA monitor duty, so he would be instantly notified if anything required his attention. He needed some time to reflect on what had happened over the past month. Mercury circled beneath him, his only companion this close to the sun. The rust-coloured planet pockmarked with impact craters held no answers for him; it merely continued its rapid orbit around the sun, always ahead of its brethren that lay further out in the solar system.

Clark allowed his arms to float at his sides while he concentrated on keeping himself from being pulled in by the sun's gravity. Why had he been so oblivious to events around him lately? After saving reality from the machinations of a cosmically powered Joker, he had felt as if nothing could go wrong. But first Batman's protocols had been used by Ra's Al Ghul against the JLA, and the fallout of betrayal nearly tore the team apart. And then the unthinkable happened — Luthor became President. He had assumed the American people would be able to see through Luthor's carefully maintained facade. He had become complacent that in the end, good triumphs over evil.

He should have done something to stop Luthor from gaining office. He kept telling himself it was because he didn't want to interfere in the political process, as Superman he had to be careful of involving himself in world politics… his actions in Qurac a few years back and his more recent attempt to bring attention to world hunger brought many repercussions. It wasn't too long ago when he was manipulated by Dominus to take over the world, after all. How would the people react to him stepping into the political arena again? Superman wasn't there to make decisions for the people, he was there to catch them when they fell. Wasn't that what he told the JLA several months ago?

Clark pulled back from the sun and swept across the solar system until he was in a position to view Washington DC, now encompassed by night as it currently faced away from the sun, and looked over the White House. The labour drones had finished putting all the furniture inside, leaving its exterior silent save for the security teams ever-present on the roof. He didn't bother scanning the White House with his x-ray vision; he already knew from a past attempt that Luthor had placed lead shielding inside prior to his move. Clark imagined Luthor's reorganization of the White House, the new President smirking as he had paintings of himself hung up on walls throughout the complex. He shuddered even though he wasn't affected by the unearthly cold of space.

What was he thinking when he shook Luthor's hand in public? After he flew into Lex's victory speech in a fit of anger, he stopped himself short when he realized what he was doing, and in order not to create a scene he shook Luthor's hand and congratulated him on his victory. Congratulated him. The man who had killed others for his own benefit, who had tortured Lana. And he shook Luthor's hand to save face.

No. It was far more complicated than that. If Superman appeared to be rejecting the authority of the President without proof of Luthor's evil, it could have a dire effect on the American political system. God knows there were enough dissidents who had a bone to pick and were willing to shed blood to make a point; the bombing in Oklahoma City certainly proved that. There would be too many who would interpret his rejection of Luthor as a rejection of the Office of the President. The majority of the world held Superman in awe, there were some who worshipped him as a god. It was something which he didn't feel comfortable with and hoped he never would, but it was a fact he could never afford to ignore. Any careless words, even giving the cold shoulder, could be used as a justification for bloodshed. Sometimes he wished he hadn't been in Metropolis to save the Constitution space plane twelve years ago; if he had been able to continue acting in secret, he wouldn't have to second-guess the effects of his actions.

Clark flexed his muscles to shed off the layer of ice already beginning to collect on his body. The flakes of frozen gases floated away, a crystalline aura about his body, before they dissipated in the reaches of space.

Luthor's victory party had been a grand affair studded with celebrities and dignitaries. Lois had been there too, as always there for a story. He knew it tore her up to see Luthor triumphant, and yet there she was, playing her role. The investigative reporter.

Why didn't Clark Kent play his role?

Maybe Superman couldn't have done anything, but certainly Clark Kent could have acted. He was supposed to be an investigative reporter, it was his job to reveal the truth and he certainly knew the truth. True, all information regarding Luthor's past had apparently been erased by the B13 virus, but couldn't he have dug further and brought out these secrets? Surely he could have found something to put into the papers…

No. Digging for information that protected would undoubtedly require the use of his powers, and he couldn't allow himself to abuse his gifts for a personal vendetta. But this was more than just a grudge; he knew firsthand the sort of evil Luthor was capable of, had seen people die because of his machinations. Certainly any measures he took were justifiable in keeping Luthor out of the oval office.

__

How Machiavellian of you, Clark thought. _Isn't that the sort of thinking that led to your attempt to take over the world?_ Clark massaged his forehead with one hand as he descended into Earth's atmosphere_. This is going to bother me for a long time…_


	2. Sage Advice

Jay Garrick, the original Flash, tapped into the speed force to spin like a top so the resulting wind would slow his freefall into the crevice. Downtown Keystone City was being torn apart by a mysterious earthquake, but he had a feeling he knew the source. He slowed his rotations as he reached the bottom, landing inside a tunnel that slanted sharply downward into the earth. The walls were grooved by the unmistakable passing of a boring machine, and the grinding of gears echoed from below. The tunnel shook with intense vibrations, knocking loose the occasional clump of dirt. A mixture of nostalgia and apprehension washed through him as he ran down the tunnel to the source of the destruction. He felt it every time he encountered a foe from the old days.

In less than a nanosecond he reached the source of the destruction, a drill-nosed vehicle that had a familiar design… an old foe of his, Sieur Satan of the Faultless Four, had used such a machine in an attempt to destroy a military base over sixty years ago. Jay was almost certain that the villain had died in that conflict, but he'd seen too many foes come back from a mysterious death to give it a second thought. Stopping the drill from destroying his city was the priority. There didn't appear to be a driver on this version, but he could still stop it.

Jay zipped on top of the drill and began vibrating his body to counteract and reflect the tremors in an attempt to destroy it with its own energies. At first it seemed to be working… until Jay was hit with a more powerful shockwave that stunned him for a fraction of a second. His super speed allowed him to recover almost instantly, and he used the speed force to absorb the shockwave so it wouldn't cause even greater damage to the surface.

__

Counter-kinetic field, thought Jay. _I can absorb the shock it puts out but if I try to reflect it, the field amplifies it and turns it back._ In theory, if Jay was prepared he could continually reflect back the shockwave by readjusting his vibrations, turning it into a game of tennis, until either he or the machine's counter-kinetic field gave out. The big question was which one of them would fall first? He couldn't stay down here to soak up the tremors forever…

Jay's thoughts were interrupted by twin blasts of intense heat searing through the machine into its guts, originating from above. He felt the machine's vibration output increase slightly, and theorized that the counter-kinetic field had been shut down. Jay reflected the vibrations back on the machine and ran back up to the surface as the drill began to explode. He absorbed the shockwave of the explosion as he made his way up and came to rest at the mouth of the tunnel, in a field a few miles outside of Keystone City. A familiar red and blue figure hovered over him, and Jay couldn't help but smile.

***************

"Well, I was returning from space and I happened to notice your situation while I was in the upper atmosphere, so I thought I'd lend you a hand," Clark answered as they stood on the mountain peak, surveying the ruins of Blackhawk Island. "A quick x-ray scan revealed the circuitry for the counter-kinetic field."

"And you zapped it with a bit of heat vision, figuring the field wasn't designed to counter it," Jay continued. "Good call. Thanks for the assist, including the clean-up in Keystone City."

"Don't mention it. Any thoughts as to who's behind it?"

"Definitely. I'll have to do a little investigating to be certain though. A trip to JSA headquarters to dig through some files is in order, might jog my memory."

A brief pause in the conversation seemed to stretch out forever. Clark folded his arms in front of his chest, his cape flapping in the gentle breeze. Jay rested a foot on a large rock outcropping and leaned on his raised knee.

"Interesting location you picked for our conversation," Clark finally said. "Looks a little bit roughed up since the last time I was here."

"Kobra was using it as a base about a month ago," Jay replied. "The JSA came here and shut him down. Mr. Terrific told me the Department of Extranormal Operations was using it as a base too, but they haven't set up anything new since it blew up. I figured it was as good and private as anywhere else."

"Seems to be a popular place for villains to set up shop," Clark noted. "First the Appelaxians, then Kobra. Undoubtedly someone else is going to come in, spruce it up a bit and start some evil plan to take over the world."

"Undoubtedly," Jay agreed. "You know, I have a great deal of respect for the memory of the Blackhawks, but sometimes I wonder why we don't get you or Sentinel to atomize proven villain hideouts like these so they won't be used for evil anymore." A mischievous grin played across his face.

Clark couldn't help but smile in return.

"Believe me, I've thought about tearing the Lexcorp tower to the ground on more than a few occasions." Clark's smile faded. "Not that it would do much good now."

Clark stared out over the Atlantic ocean at the rising sun. In several hours the sun would be over Washington DC and President Luthor would begin his day in his new home. Jay tipped his winged helmet up on his head.

"I can't help but feel that's the reason you wanted to chat with me, Superman."

Clark's massive shoulders rose and fell with his sigh.

"I'm sorry to bend your ear like this, Jay. We've worked together on a few occasions but we don't really know each other very well. Normally I'd talk to Diana, but I needed to speak to someone with a… well…"

"With a historical perspective?" Jay grinned. "Don't worry, I get this from Wally too. Comes with being one of the old fellas still in the game."

"Thanks, Jay." Clark began to focus his gaze on Washington DC through the curvature of the earth, but stopped himself. That never seemed to do any good. "How did you make your decision when you were confronted with political corruption?"

"You mean Hitler? Very easy. But the situation was very different, we were at war with Germany…" Jay stroked his chin thoughtfully. "But you probably don't mean Hitler, do you?"

"No. I was actually referring to McCarthy."

Jay winced slightly. Using the House Un-American Activities Committee, Senator Joseph McCarthy had accused the JSA of being Communists in 1951, as part of a Red Menace witch hunt to increase his own political power.

"Well, it was a very difficult situation," Jay began. "I think our honeymoon period with the public was over by then… the people were so ready to accept us when we first appeared, we helped them feel strong against the darkness. Once the war was over and the Russians had the bomb, people got scared again. Maybe they wondered why we were fighting mad scientists instead of kicking Joe Stalin in the rear end."

The sun continued to rise in the east, changing the amber dawn into full daylight. Jay scratched the back of his neck as he continued.

"We were so young and everything seemed so clear-cut when we started the game. Hitler was evil and had to be stopped. But near the end, when we saw what happened… what we did in places like Dresden… it had to be done to end the war, but if you could have seen the carnage caused by American bombs on civilians…"

Now it was Jay's turn to look off into the sunrise.

"We didn't want to be party to anything like that in a situation where the lines were a little more blurry, I suppose. So we fought the bad guys at home while the U.S. and Russia used the world as a chessboard."

"But back to McCarthy. HUAC accused us of being Communists, but said they would take it easy on us if we revealed our identities to them. So we had three options. Number one was to comply, which really wasn't an option since it would put our loved ones at risk. Option two was to fight them, but then there was a question of how far we were willing to go. Would it lead to us using our powers against the government? Option three was to disappear from the public eye. So we chose option three."

"Would you do things differently," Clark asked, "if you could go back and do it over again?"

"With fellas like Hourman running around that might not be as hypothetical as you think," Jay mused with a brief chuckle. "Truth to tell, I don't know. If we fought HUAC and stayed active maybe things would have gone differently in places like Vietnam. But then again I was finally able to marry Joan, and some of the others had kids, something which wouldn't have been easy to do if we were still operating. I guess we felt we had done our part, and rather than fight with our own government we wanted to settle down and have families."

"So are you saying it's simply a case of knowing when to get out when times change?" Clark's brow furrowed.

"Sometimes it is." Jay turned to Clark and stared into his eyes. "But before you hang up your cape, make sure to ask yourself one important question… 'Have I done enough?' Really think long and hard on that too… after all, obviously retirement didn't suit me for too long." Jay smiled. "If the answer's no, then you have to ask if you're going to change with the times or keep doing it like you've done it before."

Clark turned west and focused his gaze on Washington D.C. His gaze bored through the city, for one brief second, then he turned to Jay. His eyes were lit with fire.

"Thank you, Jay." Clark extended a hand, which Jay shook readily. "Now if you'll excuse me, there are some things I have to do."

"Any time you want to bend my ear you're more than welcome, Superman. Especially if you can lend a hand like you did today." Jay grinned.

Clark returned the smile. His chest expanded as he took in a deep breath of salty tropical air.

"Say hello to the JSA for me. Take care of yourself, Jay." With that, he leapt into the sky and quickly receded into the west.

"You do the same, Superman," Jay whispered after him, before he disappeared in a scarlet blur.


End file.
